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Unesa.ac.id, SURABAYA-Universities must continue to transform and collaborate with various partners both at home and abroad. That is what Surabaya State University (UNESA) continues to do. Most recently, the campus led by Prof. Dr. Nurhasan, M.Kes., signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh in the Meeting Room, 8th Floor, Rectorate Building, Lidah Wetan Campus on Monday (11/04/2022).
The collaboration is in the context of developing higher education in the country. Indonesian Ambassador-Riyadh, Dr. Abdul Aziz Ahmad said that the Indonesian Embassy was committed to providing facilitation to all parties, including UNESA who were willing to take advantage of opportunities for cooperation in the development of higher education. "We are indeed trying to develop higher education cooperation with several well-known universities in Indonesia, including UNESA," he said.
The cooperation, he continued, was based on several things. One of them is because Indonesia and Saudi Arabia share the same passion for developing international standard higher education. Currently, Saudi Arabia has developed a vision of 2030 which includes efforts to make Saudi universities able to reach the international 200s ranking.
So far, education developed in bilateral relations between the two countries is more inclined to religious education. He hopes that international standard education will develop new areas, including cooperation in the fields of science and technology. "Hopefully UNESA will pay special attention to cooperation with universities in Saudi Arabia in the non-religious field," he hoped.
Abdul Aziz Ahmad continued, the perception of Saudi Arabia as a source of religious knowledge seems to have shifted in order to prepare oneself that in Saudi Arabia actually the development of science and technology has also advanced. Many experts in the field of education from foreign students, especially from America and Europe are used by Saudi Arabian leaders for university development.
The Indonesian Embassy also opens opportunities for Indonesian children to develop themselves in Saudi Arabia. Currently, there are around 1,600 students studying at the Indonesian School in Riyadh, the Indonesian School in Jeddah, and the Indonesian School in Makkah who are internationally acquainted with the different environments in Indonesia and this can be used by UNESA as well as part of developing an international network.
"In the future, we can see, use, and take advantage of smart children here (Saudi Arabia, ed) to study at UNESA with the language of instruction, English or maybe Arabic. Here, we are trying to make the children, even though they study at the Riyadh Indonesian School, still use Indonesian, but they are also used to foreign languages," he explained.
So far, Indonesian students have received scholarships from the government of Saudi Arabia. The Indonesian government rarely accepts, provides, or even grants scholarships to Saudi Arabian students to study in Indonesia. "In Saudi Arabia alone there are around 2,500 Indonesian students studying, indeed most of them study in the fields of religion and Arabic," he continued.
The government of Saudi Arabia has expressed its willingness to accept more students from Indonesia with Saudi Arabian government scholarships to study non-religious fields even from undergraduate. One of the universities that has opened Saudi Arabian government scholarships from the undergraduate level is King Saud University.
Meanwhile, the Vice Chancellor for Planning and Cooperation, Dr. Sujarwanto, M.Pd., revealed that UNESA has collaborated with various national, international universities and educational institutions as well as various government programs including Indonesian embassies in various countries through the development of education and teaching, including MBKM programs, joint research, student exchange, scientific publications, and other programs. "We welcome this collaboration. UNESA is ready to share and contribute to the advancement of higher education both in Indonesia and in Saudi Arabia," he said.
The main event was the signing of the MoU of the FIP MoA and the MoA of the S-1 Education Management Study Program. The signing of the MoU between the State University of Surabaya and the Indonesian Embassy in Riyadh was signed by Dr. Sujarwanto, M.Pd with Dr. Abdul Aziz Ahmad, M.A., who were each accompanied by Prof. Dr. Bambang Yulianto, M.Pd and Badrussaleh, PhD.
This activity was also attended by the Vice Chancellor for General Affairs and Finance, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Alumni, Head of UNESA Office of International Affairs (OIA), UPT Humas Unesa, special staff of Vice Chancellor 4, IOA staff, FIP dean and Head of Education Management Department. [UNESA PR]
Author: Fiona
Editor: @zam*
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